19 January 2014

AetherTrope

There I was, minding my own business at home and trying to find a necklace to match an outfit, when Inara Pey IM'd me: grab a gun, she directed, and meet her at LEA28. Fortunately, she wasn't looking to shoot at me, because it turns out she's an expert shot—instead she wanted my help to fight the legendary Air Kraken, scourge of the sky, which were circling overhead. Large squid-like creatures from Second Life's past (Bettina Tizzy wrote about them here back in 2009), they're the creations of Marion Questi and Martini Discovolante, and are waiting and ready to fight you in battle. (The bloody scene above shows me wielding a rifle against a kraken about to destroy me—I think Inara saved my rear end.) They're here as part of a collaborative sim-wide installation by the AetherTrope, organized by Martini especially for LEA28 as part of the Interim Project. Click here to pay a visit to the sim.

On the sim's surface, many of the builds are items by Martini, ranging from her Love Flys Home, shown above, originally designed for the Summer of Love in Raglan, to many other of her creations, large and small. Looking over the entire region is her enormous mechanical arm and hand that reaches down to touch a tower rising up from the ground—one in a group of eight towers connected by some sort of electrical charge, and this one populated by five bunnies that are clambering up the tower attempting to make some sort of connection with the hand. (You'll just have to see it.)

I was absolutely enthralled to discover that Martin Ren, the proprietor of the Cod Supper Club and former proprietor of Flashmans, had rezzed a replica of the original Flashmans from about 2007 (above). The great intellectual watering hole for the ne'er-do-wells of Second Life back then (and for several years after), it's a place dear to me personally, and where I made many friendships—Martin, Nim, Cu, Boughan, Jenn, Crow, Naxos, Pip, Walpurgis, Echo, Phi, Cutea, Rumpledink, Yip, Badger, Bessy and on and on—some of whom are now rarely inworld if not gone. "Hopefully I will get the 'talking curator' installed when I can find the correct script," Martin tells me, and he's has even been kind enough to re-create the build's original toilets. I spent a long time looking through Nimuwe Rehula's Cads, Cuties & Flappers book, which is rezzed on the Flashmans floor.

And then there's a tour de force by Frenchbloke Vanmoer, a wonky house set up in the air (there's a teleport on ground level) that would make M.C. Escher proud. By using a script that allows visitors to walk on the walls and ceilings as easily as the floors, he's created a place where there isn't an up, down or sideways. Mouselook is recommended, and you'll have to take your time, as steering yourself around can be a challenge—but it's all well worth it and is a delightful (if potentially disorienting) experience.

Like many of the Interim Project sims, this one will continue to evolve and may expand the number of participants, so check back often. Everything is here through the end of January.